Electric door-switch.



A. E. VEIGEL.

ELECTRIC DOOR SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26,19I9. 1,326,380, Patented Dec. 30,1919.

LBEHTE V/EEL W, W I

i @www 5 ALBERT E. VEIGEL, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO.

ELECTRIC DOOR-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. '30, 191,9.

Appiication mea February as, 1919. serial No. 279,284.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it lmown that I, ALBERT E. VEIGEL, citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Door- Switches,of which the following is a specication.

This invention relate-s 'to- 4electric door switches, and the object ofthe invention is to provide an electric switch adapted to be placedwithin a door frame and operated by the opening and closing movements ofthe door to open andclose an electric circuit for lighting and otherpurposes. Thus, the invention may be used to turn on a light in thelobby or entrance of a residence, or in any room or compartment within abuilding, whenever the entrance door is opened,

and to extinguish this light upon closing the door. The device is alsoparticularly constructed to permit the electric current .to be turned onand off by hand whenever the door is open. For this purpose the switchis adapted to be rotated as well as recipro- .cated In the accompanyingdrawings, Figure l is a transverse section of a portion of a door jamb,showing my improved switch mounted therein with the door partly closed.Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the reciprocal and rotatable switchmember, partly disassembled. Fig. Y3 is a face view of the cover or jambplate for the switch box, the latter being shown in dotted lines behindthe plate.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section and rear elevation on line H, of Fig. 5,showing the switch parts positioned to close the electric circuit. Fig.5 is a vertical section centrally through the switch box showing themain switch member pressed back by the door. Fig. 6 is a detail viewcorresponding in part to Fig. 4, showino' the main switch member rotatedto an o -position and seated within a recessto prevent it from turnlngadapted to be conned within an opening in the jamb or frame 3 for a door4 mounted on hinges or arranged to slide against the j amb. Box 2 isrelatively long and narrow and is fastened in an upright position byScrews engaged with ears or flanges 5 affixed to or forming integralparts of the box, and jamb 3 is mortised to Seat the boli- The inventioncomprises a sheet metal 'box 2 of rectangular formation which is asuflicient distance from the front face of the jamb .so as-to permit afront plate` 6` and a brass cover plate 7 to occupy the mortised recesswith the cover plate 7 substantially iush with the front face of thejamb. The cover plate 7 is held in place by screws 8, and the frontplate 6 is detach- -ably secured to the box ears 5 by short screws 9,and said plates 6 and 7 are provided with matching openings centrallythereof throug switch member 10 of fiber or other insulating :materialis adapted to project at the front of the jamb opposite the edge of door4. v

Inasmuch, as the intention is to rotate the main switch member 10 undercertain circumstances, it is desirable that said'switch member shallproject a substantial distance from the face or cover plate 7 so that itmay be easily grasped by the hand and rotated. This extra length offinger would make it dificult ordinarily to operate the member withoutstrain or bind or breakage but this I overcome by countersinking a cup11 in the edge of the door and sloping the bottom of this cup so thatthe end. pressure.

on the switc member 10 is on a straight line axially o said member wheninitialen4 gagement 'is made andl the member pressed inward by the arcmovement of the door. I also prefer to bevel the extremity of switchmember 10 to provide a better thumb-hold and to keep said member fromturning while it is being pressed inward by the movement of the door.That is to say, the bevel surfaces provide terminal straight edgesacross the front end of member 10 and a linear Contact is effected Vwiththe flat sloping bottom during the arc or turning movement of the door.

The switch parts within the box comprise ametal contact disk 12 clampedbetween the inner end of main body l0 of the switchv member and a,,separate extension 13 in screw-engagement with a stub screw 14projecting centrally at the rear of said body 10, and said contact diskmay be screw-engaged with said stub screw and the extension 13 serve asa lockl nut as well as a support and guide for the mainswitch member,especially at the rear end thereof where it is slidably supported withinan openin in the rear wall of the box. Parts 10 an 13 of the switchmember are made of any suitable insulating material and a washer 14' ofa,

h which a cylindrical main similar material is sleeved over extension 13together with a metal washer 15 and acoiled spring l'. rlhe coiledspring is interposed between the rearwall of box 2 and the washer 15 soas to press theinsulating washer 1i against the' contact disk 12 andthereby force the main switch member constantly outward. Then the dooris open the contact disk 12 is pressed and held upon a pair of springcontact strips or plates 17 and 18 seated in shallow recesses at therear side of a porcelain block 19 through which member 10 slides andwhich block is fastened to the front plate 6. of the box by screws 20.Contact plates 17 and 18 have tapered extremities which extend towardeach otherl but are placed apart on the horizontal median line of theswitch block and main switch member, and each plate is held in place byan independent screw and nut 2l. Terminal binding nuts 22 secure theelectrical conductors 23 and 24 against'nuts 21, and the conductors passinto the box through separate side openings 25.

rllhe tapered or beveled edges of the two contact plates are angularlyrela-ted, that is they diverge, and the contact disk 12 is an eccentricmember, part circular and partly formed with two straight edges 27inclined relatively to each other so that they may lparallel the taperedor beveled edges of the contact plates when the Contact disk is turnedon its axis-to place edges 27 in the same inclined planes as the beveledor tapered edges of the plates. ln this position of parts the eccentriccontact disk '12 cannot possibly bridge the gap between the two contactplates nor close the circuit. To further promote spaced relations thedisk 12 is adapted to be socketed orseated in a recesss 28 in the rearside of porcelain block 19 and said recess corresponds in outline tothey outline of the disk to prevent the disk from being rotated,especially when pressed into the recess 'by spring 16. On the other handthe main switch member 10 may be pressed slightly inward and rotated orgiven a onehalf turn to place the disk in overlapping relation to bothcontact plates 17 and 18, so that the electric circuit will be closedwhen the door is open and the contact disk seated upon the two Contactmembers 17 and 18. Closing of the door will -press the disk 12 towardthe rear and away from the contact plates and break the circuit, and anopening movement of the door will relieve the pressure on the spring andthe electric circuit will be closed and the light turned on.

If the door is to remain open any length of time, as in the summermonths, it is only necessary to turn member 10 from an on position to anoff position as indicated in Fig. 3. The same advantage rests in usingthe device in a door frame inside of a residence or building, in that itgives full and complete control of the illumination. of a room orcompartment at the door itself.. rlhe drawing discloses a switch mountedat the hinge side of the door, but it can also be used at the oppositeside of the door frame, especially if member l0 is beveled to a greaterdegree or over a greater length than as shown so that it may operate inthe same manner as the beveled lathes commonly used in doors.

`What l claim is:

1. An electric switch adapted to `be actuated by a door, comprising amain bolt shaped switch member adapted to be rotated and reciprocatedand provided with a lateral contact projection, a-nd stationary contactsin engageable relations with said projection.

2. 1n connection with a door jamb and door, a box adapted to be mountedon the door jamb, a reciprocable and rotatable spring pressed switchmember therein pro vided with a laterally extending plate, andstationary contacts adapted to be engaged by said plate.

3. An electric door switch, comprising a box adapted to be mountedwithin a door jamb, a block of insulating material within said box,provided with stationary contacts, a reciprocal member extendi-ngthrough said block and box having a contact member and a spring to presssaid member longitudinally in one direction, in combination with ahinged door having a sloping engaging portion retired inwardly from itsjamb engaging edge opposite said reciprocal member.

4. An electric door switch, comprising a box having flanges adapted tosecure said box within a door jamb, a front plate affixed to saidflanges, a block of insulating material aiixed to said plate having apair of contacts secured thereto, a reciprocal and rotatable memberextending through said block and plate provided with a contact, a springadapted to press said member longitudinally, binding terminals for saidpair of contacts, and a separate plate having an opening for said memberto project therethrough and adapted to cover the said front plate aiixedto said box.

5. An electric door switch, comprising a block of insulating materialhaving al pair of stationary contacts mounted thereon` a reciprocal androtatable member extending through said block and made in two parts witha contact member clamped therebetween, and a spring to press said memberlongitudinally and hold said contacts in engagement.

6. An electric door switch, comprising a box having a removable frontplate, an insulating block having an opening therein and a set ofcontacts mounted thereon at the side of said opening, a cylindricalmember h said plates.

made in two-parts secured together in screw engagement, a contact memberclamped 'between said parts, and an insulating washer and coiled springsleeved upon said cylindrical member.

7. An electric door switch, comprising an. insulating block having anopening and a, pair of spaced contact plates adjacent said opening, andva reciprocal and rotatable member having an leccentric contact memberadapted to contact ,With said plates in one rotatable position and to beplaced out of contact in another position, and a spring adapted to presssaid contact member in a direction toward said plates. l Y

8. An electric door switch, comprising" -an insulating block having acentral opening, and a pair of contact plates adjacent said opening anda recess adjacent said plates, and a rotatable and reciprocal memberhaving a contact disk adapted to seat within said recess apart from saidplates and to 'be turned in overlapping/,relation to said plates whensaid reciprocal member is partly rotated, and a spring adapted toppresssaid member longitudinally to hold the disk. either within said recessor in contact with 9. In combination, a box adapted to be secured withina door jamb, a switch block secured within said box having` contacts, arotatable and reciprocal cylindrical member having a contabt diskadapted to be engaged .andl disengaged from said plates either bya-rotatable or reciprocatory movement of, said member, a spring to' movesaid member longitudinally in one direction and said member projectingfrom said box, in lcombination with a swinging door having a part in itsedge adapted to engage said member. j

10. An electric door switch, comprising a box having a switch blocktherein provided with contacts, and a reciprocal and rotatable memberhaving a contact disk adapted to engage said first named contacts eitherby a reciprocal or rotary movement of said member, said member havingbeveled end exposed outside of said box, in com-n bination with a hingeddoor having a flat slo ing engaging part for said beveled end.

igned at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio, this22nd day of February, 1919.

ALBERT E. VEIGEL.

